JAKARTA: Indonesia moved a step closer to passing President Joko Widodo’s contentious “Job Creation” bill after parliament’s legislation committee and government ministers on Saturday approved the latest version for a vote next week.
A coalition of fifteen activist groups, including several trade unions, condemned the move in a statement on Sunday, accusing the government and parliamentarians of completing the deliberations in secret during an unusual hearing late at night over a weekend.
The coalition called on all workers to join their planned national strike on Oct. 6 to 8 to protest the bill, which organizers had said would involve 5 million workers.
The so-called “omnibus” bill, aimed at revising over 70 existing laws in a single vote, is the president’s flagship measure to speed up the pace of economic reform and improve the country’s investment climate.
Global investors have been watching closely to see if the bill gets watered down in parliamentary debates, as Southeast Asia’s largest economy tries to compete for manufacturing investment relocating from China.
In a hearing on Saturday, which ended a few hours before midnight, representatives from seven out of nine factions in the legislation committee approved the bill to be brought to a parliamentary vote, while two factions rejected.
Several ministers led by chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto also approved the final version of the bill, which contained some changes to the government’s original proposal, such as a different scheme for a cut in mandatory severance benefits.
“This bill will support de-bureaucratization and efficiency,” Airlangga said in the televised hearing.
Workers opposing the bill argued the legislation would be a “red carpet for investors, widening the power of the oligarchy” by not only hurting labor protection, but also taking away lands from farmers and indigenous communities, according to the coalition’s statement.
Greenpeace campaigner Arie Rompas, addressing a separate news briefing on Sunday, said his group was reviewing legal actions it could take if parliament passes the bill into law. Green groups have criticized the bill’s provisions that relax environmental study requirements for investors, which they said could lead to ecological disasters.
Government officials have insisted the bill would not hurt labor protection nor the environment and that it is necessary to attract investment and create jobs.
Indonesian parliamentary committee finishes deliberating contentious jobs bill
https://arab.news/6xmag
Indonesian parliamentary committee finishes deliberating contentious jobs bill
- So-called ‘omnibus’ bill aims at revising over 70 existing laws in a single vote
- Government officials insist the bill would not hurt labor protection nor the environment
Trump doesn’t want Americans hurt but blames Democrats: White House
- The White House described the shooting death of Alex Pretti by federal agents on Saturday as a “tragedy”
WASHINGTON: The White House said Monday that President Donald Trump did not want to see anyone hurt on US streets but quickly blamed Democrats again after anti-immigrant agents killed a second person in Minneapolis.
“Nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
She described the shooting death of Alex Pretti — whom a Trump aide had quickly and without evidence branded a “domestic terrorist” — by federal agents on Saturday as a “tragedy.”
“We mourn for the parents. As a mother myself, of course, I cannot imagine the loss of life,” she said.
But the conciliatory tone was short-lived. Leavitt quickly blamed the rival Democratic Party for unrest that has broken out since Trump ordered a surge in Minneapolis by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), masked and armed agents deployed in force against local wishes.
“This tragedy occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota,” Leavitt said, blaming Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats.
She accused elected Democrats of “spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers who are risking their lives daily to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens from our streets.”
She demanded that Walz, to whom Trump spoke by telephone on Monday, and Frey fully cooperate with federal agents and “turn over all illegal aliens” detained by local authorities.
Pretti had a permit to carry a gun, although video footage did not show him taking out his weapon before ICE agents appeared to shoot him multiple times.
Trump’s Republican Party long has defended the right to carry weapons virtually without restriction, and Leavitt said Trump supports the right to bear arms.
But she added: “Any gun owner knows that when you are carrying a weapon, when you are bearing arms and you are confronted by law enforcement, you are raising the assumption of risk, and the risk of force being used against you.”
“That’s unfortunately what took place on Saturday,” she said.
